Between the followers of the three national religions there is not only a total absence of persecution and bitter feeling, but a very great indifference as to which of them a man may belong. It arises probably from religious apathy; yet still it is preferable to the fanatical zeal and cut-throat earnestness of the Moslem. Amdngst the politer classes, when strangers meet, the question is asked: " To what sublime religion do you belong?" and each one pronounces a eulogiuin, not on his own religion, but on that professed by the others, and concludes,with the oft-repeated formula: " Religions are many; reason is one; we are all brothers." The government is equally tolerant of religious diversity, except where a political design is suspected.
Temples belonging to the three religions are very numerous. Those dedicated to Confucius are funereal in character. The Buddhist temples are crowded with images, and Buddha is represented expounding his doctrine to attentive listeners. The many storied tower takes the place of the bell-shaped dagoba or relic-shrine of other Buddhist countries.
History and British Intercourse.—The early annals of China, like those of most other countries, belong rather to mythology than to history. Beginning with Pan-ku, the first of all beings, the country was ruled over first by gods, and then god-descended person ages, who revealed to men the essential arts of life. Of those mythical rulers the most famous is Fo-hi. The historical period may be said to commence with the Ilia period or dynasty, begun by Yu the great about 2200 B.C., although a great infusion of the fabulous still continues. Some date the real history of China from the Tchow or Chow dynasty, which began with Wu-wang about 1100 B.C. It was during the reign of Ling wang (571-544), one of this dynasty, that Confucius was born. China would seem during this period to have been divided into a number of independent states. The kings of Tsin gradually gained the ascendency, and at last one of them reduced the other states to subjection (247 n.c.), and assumed the title of Hoang, or emperor. It is from the Tsin dynasty that the country has taken its name, Tsina or China. This first emperor finished the great wall (see above), as a protection against the Tartars, who had all along, under the name of Hiong-nu (Huns), been a source of danger and annoyance to the richer and more pacific Chinese. We cannot enumerate the various dynasties that fol lowed, nor the frequent divisions and reunions of the empire, varied by incursions and partial subjugations by the troublesome Tartars. At last, the Mongols or western Tar tars, being called in to aid the Chinese (1209), became finally (see KtBLAI KIIAN) masters of the whole country (1279), and reigned over it till 1368, when they were expelled by the Chinese, and the Ming native dynasty succeeded, which lasted 270 years, and fell at length through its own misgovernment. A general of the last Ming emperor, who was
employed in keeping the Mantchus (q.v.) in check, made peace with them, and obtained their assistance against the native usurper who had deposed his sovereign. The Mantchus established themselves in Pekin (1644), and finally, after a seven.years' struggle, acquired the sovereignty of the whole empire. Many of the conquering race now filled the high est offices of state, and owed their position to birth alone. More than one powerful emperor of the race has ably conducted the government of the country; but Hien Fling, who ruled from 1850 to 1861, was reported to have passed his time in a state of drunken imbecility. The late emperor, Tung-chi, succeeded to the throne when only a child five years old, but the government was ably carried on under the co-regency of the empress dowager, Tze-an, the empress-mother, Tze-sse, and the enlightened prince Kung, brother of Hien Fung. Tsai-Tien, cousin of Tung-chi, ascended the throne in 1875. As he was then only about four years old, the empresses continued to act as regents.
Of recent events in Chinese history, the most remarkable is the rise, progress, and overthrow of the Tae-ping rebels. Their famous leader, Hung-sew-tseuen, was a man of humble origin, and an unsuccessful candidate for government employment. Some Christian tracts, it is said, led him to renounce idolatry, and he founded a society of God-worshipers, which, in the autumn of 1850, was brought into collision with the imperial authorities, and immediately assumed a political character. Hung persuaded himself and his followers that he had received a divine commission to uproot idolatry. extirpate the Tartar intruders in the country, and establish the new native dynasty of Tae-ping, or universal peace. He assumed the title of heavenly or divine prince (Tae ping-wang, sometimes called Tien-wang), and bestowed the titles of eastern prince, western prince, southern prince, northern prince, and assistant prince on five of his chosen leaders. The fanatical principle of divine revelations and other extravagances followed. They spoke of Tien-na, the wife of the Heavenly Father; they held that Tien-wang was the son of God as really as Jesus, and worshiped him accordingly. Polygamy was a dark feature of their system, the Tien•wang himself having married :30 wives. The course of this religio-political rebellion, the victorious march of the Tae ping army from Kwang-so to Nankin in 1850-53, and its subsequent career, cannot here be traced. We can only afford room to state. that after a series of wasteful and revolting barbarities, it was finally suppressed in 1865 by the imperial troops, led by British and American officers, of whom the most conspicuous and able was col. Gordon. See TAB PINGS.